Running from a Dog

Okay, so I'm sure you're thinking, "Is Bethany about to say she and Landon got a dog?" NO. The answer is no. I am about to tell you a story about what happened to me last night.
So...I decided to go running last night. I leave the house and run probably about a mile and turn onto another street. Landon warned me about running on this street - said he didn't think it was a good idea for me to go alone on it. But, I'm thinking, no problem, there are lots of houses, if someone tries to get me, I can run into a yard. I did not anticipate a dog. I had just turned the corner onto this new street and had to pass (on the left) a kind of run down property. Okay, no problem - I just run a little faster past this. Well, I have my Ipod on, so I'm listening to like Josh Groban or something when I see a dog - a pretty big dog. Looks like a Rottweiler to me (though I am no expert) and looks like it's still a puppy but might weigh about 50 pounds. It is bounding up this yard toward me. I start screaming - I do not really realize I am screaming until I put the Ipod on pause. So, a man comes out from behind his home, and yells to me, "Don't worry, he won't bite you." So, I pause for a moment to let the man call the dog and get him back in the yard. Well, the dog won't go and is only interested in me. So, I decide to start running again. To make a long story short, the dog follows me all the way down this road - probably a mile. The last thing the owner of the dog yelled was, "This is the dumbest dog I've ever seen." So, the dog and I, my new friend, that I am still sort of afraid of, are running together now. I kept sort of looking behind me to the left to see if he was still there - he was. Twice he was all in the road and cars had to stop and I was trying to yell at the cars, "He isn't even my dog! This isn't my dog!" So...finally at the end of that street when I'm about to cross onto another road, he got interested in some skateboard people and went over to them and I was able to slip away. I tried many tactics to get him to go away - I tried ignoring him, then I tried yelling, "Go home!" in a gruff voice to him, and then one time when I thought a St. Bernard (very large dog) was going to jump over the fence of his yard, I had to talk nice to the dog and say, "It's okay, stop barking, stop barking, you're okay." There is no point to this story except that it's much funnier when I tell it my ownself, with my own voice. It was scary though, and I will no longer be taking that route when running by myself.

In other news, I've been having bad dreams. I do not know why this is, but on Saturday night, I had to wake Landon up, and he got up and went downstairs to make sure no one was down there because I was feeling freaked out and getting my clothes on, etc. in case something was about to go down. So, last night when I wore a jogging suit to bed, Landon made fun of me (in a funny way) saying that I was afraid someone was going to come upstairs and I thought I was going to have to start running away. Whatever - no one came in the house. I think the bad dreams are from me seeing this movie, Knowing, last Saturday night.

American Idol TONIGHT!

Featuring Landon Frymire...

Wow, I am proud of my husband!!!! I'm not saying that to pretend like we have some perfect life and never have problems or issues - in fact, we were just having a slight issue on the phone talking about using our GM card points and buying new cars and stuff like that...we are far from perfect. But, I can say this with certainty. There has NEVER been a time in our marriage when I have loved Landon like I love him now or a time when I love him more than I love him now. I love everything about him, and want to accept him as a whole package - strengths and weaknesses. I'm so thankful - even with some of the really bad stuff we've had to go through (I mean really bad) that we are where we are now. There's NO WHERE else I want to be than with Landon.

The Father has been opening some neat doors for Landon lately - some that look like they will come to fruition, some that already have. One opportunity is coming this Wednesday night - Landon will be the speaker in our Renew service at church. I scanned in the bulletin from yesterday so you could see. I'm so thankful for these opportunities...and excited, too, about when God might open a full time opportunity for Landon in ministry. I'm thankful for FBCW, a place to be real and authentic where people's lives are serious business being changed. Look at Landon's name below!!!!

Virtual Makeover

I found the funniest thing yesterday, and I wanted to share it with you. My co-worker/friend/carpooler here at work sells Mary Kay. Every couple of months she places an order. She sends out catalogs to everyone who wants one (and sometimes I accidentally throw mine away) so that you can see all the new products and decide what you want to buy. So...about a week before she places the order, I usually get a Mary Kay email inviting you to check out the website to see new stuff. Well, I decided to check it out yesterday and found the funniest thing EVER. You can make a virtual makeover of yourself. So...I uploaded a picture, but it wasn't really like what they recommend to get the best results from the makeover. They recommend you pull your hair back and take a picture outside on a cloudy day. I showed this site to Landon and how you can put makeup and hair on your own picture, and he thought it was really funny. So, I made us go outside (since it was cloudy yesterday) and take my picture, with my hair pulled back, just like they recommend. I wanted to show you what I did to myself - ha! It cracks me up. The makeup part is very realistic...but they need to work on the hair - it's crazy. And remember, you can do this to YOURSELF TOO! So...here it is...and yes, warning...this does include one picture of me with no makeup on (I need you to be able to see the original, so I have to be authentic!)...get ready...this will crack you up...

Plain B (before any makeup)

Crazy Wild B

Fairly Normal B (but still crazy hair...that's why I said they need to work on their hair)

Moment of Silence

I am mourning the loss of my slippers today. Last night when we were heading to bed, I slipped my feet into my slippers when I got up off the couch and started to walk to the stairs. Something just didn't feel right - I mean, it felt REALLY wrong. And then, I took off my slipper and saw it.

The bottom of the slipper is broken - the rubber part at the bottom has peeled back, and it's pretty much over for them. I tried to hang in with it and keep walking around, but to no avail. It felt too weird on my foot. People have given me other slippers, but these are my favorites and the only pair I want to wear. These slippers meant a lot to me. Before Hurricane Katrina, I had a pair almost identical to these slippers. Then, two weeks after the hurricane, the slippers are one of the very first things I replaced (that, and my body pillow after crying in Wal-Mart because they didn't have body pillows there...even though I probably wasn't really crying over not being able to find the pillow). ANYWAY, I bought them from Parisian or Dillards in Pensacola, and one of the very next weekends was when we went to stay with Pastor Johnny. I have such great memories of that weekend and remember wearing the slippers at his house all weekend (I mean, not if we went out though). Since they were one of the first comforts of home I re-purchased after the hurricane, they have been with me about 3.5 years now, and I am not pleased to see them go. I am hoping to check out the mall this weekend to see if I can find the exact same pair.

You served me well, leopard slippers. You have been with me through good times and hard times. I will let you go now; rest in peace. I will look for a replacement very soon.

Randomness

Okay, I just need to know once and for all - does gaining muscle really make you gain weight? I have been running a lot more lately, and I am not appreciating the numbers I am seeing. I know I have discussed this before, and some of you are like, please gag me, but I just need to share about this. If gaining more muscle is going to make me weigh more, I may not be in for it, and I definitely don't like it. This is all I have to say about that.

Next, NO HEADACHES TODAY!!! Yay! I started my antibiotics last night, which I am NOT pleased about. I really hate antibiotics for two reasons - which I don't think would be appropriate to state on the blog. One has to do with relational situations, and the other I cannot even hint about. Anyway, we'll just see how it goes...now that I've started it, goodness knows I need to just see it through.

It really gets on my nerves when restaurants don't put their nutrition information on their websites. I ate at the Rising Roll for lunch today, and I just needed to know the nutritional info for my tuna sandwich...but no...they do not post the info. Nor could I find it on the daily plate, the other website where I usually can find nutritional values.

So...church tonight and then AMERICAN IDOL!!! (hopefully the people I like will not act crazy!) I thought that bacon cheeseburger roll up thing was pretty good last night - it was a little bland, but all in all, a fun recipe to try. I might make it again, maybe.



One more very important thing, I got some flip flops for Christmas and just wore them for the first time last night when I had to run to Publix (in my nightgown with a sweatshirt jacket over it - hope Stacy and Clinton don't come after me - but it was not like a Granny nightgown...just a black cottony dress) to pick up some prescriptions (one of them was free at Publix...yay Publix!). I love those flip flops - they are the kind that you can buy at Hallmark and they have velcro on them - Anyway, they are SUPER CUTE! But, I have to do something about my feet before I really start wearing them. I also have another velcro top for them that is Gators! Oooh...soon I have to tell you about our vacation we're going on in May to St. Augustine - it reminded me of how we're going to spend one day in the Swamp and one day at an alligator farm - saying gators made me think about it...

My Two New Best Friends

Update on the "I do not have Meningitis but thought I might" situation. After having a pretty severe headache for like the past week, and really longer, but I can just remember the past week vividly, I decided I'd try to go to the dr. today. This is the first time I can remember having headaches that did not go away at night! Usually going to sleep fixes it for me! So...I called the dr. this morning and they saw me today. I did not mention my self diagnosis of possible meningitis, but waited to see what the "experts" had to say. He did decide it was sinus stuff, which I already thought since I feel like something has been jammed through my forehead into my face ( I mean, I thought it #2 to the meningitis :)... He looked up into my sinuses and said they were very swollen, but there was no junk. He said it was odd that I had no other symptoms but the headache, but that he could see the swelling up there. So...he gave me a sample (YAY!) of Nasonex (I love commercials where animals talk) and also gave me a prescription for Amoxicillin (I haven't taken an antibiotic in over 2 yrs!) just in case I did have a sinus infection. I hesitate to mention the antibiotic because I'm waiting to hear from Steph (best friend pharmacist) or Krista (almost RN sister) who will probably tell me that I shouldn't take the antibiotic. I am going to take it though, just in case, like the dr. said (I figure it's okay to take an antibiotic every 2 years or so?) Anyway, he told me to keep taking my Excedrin if I needed to, but to try Aleve because that is what neurologists recommend. Whatever - I just need some relief! So, as soon as I got in the car with the Nasonex I was squirting that up my nose. Hopefully these things will help me not feel like a truck is being driven through my face.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I ran without Landon yesterday afternoon after work (in the time where the Excedrin was actually working) and ran the WHOLE WAY!!! That means I ran 4.7 miles on our little route! I'm so excited!!! That is farther than I've ever run before! I thought I might die toward the end, but I didn't - and then this morning when the nurse said my pulse was 60, she goes, "Do you work out?" And, I was so proud! I was like, "Oh yes, I do." (Like I am some crazy dedicated athlete whose pulse is really low all the time because of working out :)

Ha! In other news, I'm making a new recipe tonight - some kind of bacon cheeseburger roll up with pizza dough - I'll let you know how it turns out.

Carrot Cake - Yummy!

Landon had to work on Saturday night, which is unusual for his schedule - usually he works days. He switched with someone to be able to have this past Sunday off though and ended up having to work 3-11 on Saturday night. I wanted to make a special surprise for him, so I decided to try Paula Deen's Grandma Hier's Carrot Cake. This was the 3rd time I'd made it, and I really watched it in the oven and pulled it out as soon as it was done so it would be really moist. I know that Landon never ate carrot cakes growing up (this is what he has told me, anyway) but the last time I tried this cake to take to work, he really seemed to like the little bit I brought home that was left over. And, I didn't have time for a cheesecake to get cold in the fridge by the time he got home Saturday night. The hardest part about the carrot cake, to me, is having to do the carrots in the chopper. I have an electric chopper, but it's not that big, so I have to do it like 3 different times to finally get the 3 cups I need for the cake. Just to be vulnerable with you, I sometimes worry about my cooking - I don't cook a ton, but I just really want to do a good job - and for Landon to like it and think I'm good at it. I think it's like one of those things where if I can cook okay it's another check in the column of "I will probably be a decent mother someday and am a decent wife now" :) Not that I feel the need to be Paula Deen or some big cooker, but just that I can hold my own in the kitchen and actually make things my family loves to eat. I had just iced the cake when he came home - it was DELICIOUS! He said he thought it was great! I ate as little as possible for dinner tonight so that when he gets home we can have another piece together! If only American Idol was on tonight...it would be a perfect evening!

Is Anyone Out There?

Good Morning! Landon says we are going to have to nix the blog if we don't start getting more comments. I haven't figured out how to put a counter on this thing to see if anyone is actually visiting our site...but please my peeps (is this how to spell "peeps"??), leave us some comments!! I even fixed it where anonymous people can leave them (leaving the door open for weird creepy jokers...not that I'm inviting that or wishing for weird creepy jokers though)...we are waiting....we need some affirmation!!!

A quick update: I am back to work after my fake vaca. I have had a headache for like a million days now and have decided in my hypochondriac self that it could be meningitis - I understand it is allergies - but still...then I learned that the only way to check for meningitis is to do a lumbar puncture. I am now back to the allergies diagnosis. Back to work for now!

Concert and Fake Vacation Update

Hello My Faithful Public...

I hope you enjoyed Landon's entry a few days ago. I'm excited he wanted to write on the blog, and hopefully it will not be the only time. My fake vacation is going well. I've been a little sick (allergies, I think) and so yesterday I stayed home all day - in my pajamas - and slept really late and then took a nap again in the middle of the day. I did go running with Landon when he got home though, so I did some physical activity (not that I really have to answer to anyone if I didn't do any activity - I am an adult). But today, I was more active. I started my day off taking Landon a donut and mountain dew to work, then going by Bojangles to have a sausage biscuit and diet pepsi (they do not have coke products there) on my way to Lenox mall. I needed to go to Lenox to return some pants to Zara that I bought months ago and thought I could fit in, but really couldn't - and they would not have been "work appropriate". I shopped there for a while and then went on to Northpoint area and shopped around there. I had a Chick-fil-A cookies 'n' cream milkshake for lunch. I got some new stuff - but not a huge success shopping - it was fun anyway though. Sometimes I really like getting to do stuff by myself - I also like doing stuff with people, of course - but it's really fun for me to get to shop alone and just think and spend as much time in any store that I want.

Tonight Landon and I went to dinner and a jazz concert at our church. We were able to sit with people in our Sunday School class - which was really fun. I think I've already said this, but we're co-teaching a marriage class - Intimate Encounters. We had a good dinner together, and a fun time, and then we went in for the concert. It was great - Michael O'Brien was the singer - who sang with Newsong for like 6 or 7 years. He was really good - not only a great singer, but a real live person, who shared his story about troubles in his marriage - I know I had heard the story before, but to actually watch he and his wife tell it on their video was really touching. I can identify with their story, and I so appreciate their vulnerability. I know what's it like for something that feels like death to bring life. I know what it's like for God to bring something great out of great pain - when you think you can't come back from it. Just reminded me how much the Father loves me - and how I don't have to be afraid of ANYTHING because He defines who I am.

So...here's a picture of Michael O'Brien at the piano and then a picture of the members of our Sunday School discussion group at the concert...I love our discussion group (and we missed you Michelle!!!)

American Idol

Landon and I LOVE American Idol. We are so excited every season when it comes back on again! I must give you my thoughts on the contestants. I have a picture of my MOST favorite and LEAST favorite...then I have comments on the rest of them.

MOST FAVORITE:

We love Danny Gokey!! And, not just because his wife died...and not just because he's a minister (isn't he a music minister...I can't remember!)! He has an AWESOME voice!

On the other hand...I do not like AT ALL:

I cannot even believe I've just posted Adam's picture above. This dude totally creeps me out. At first, I was like, okay, I can see you are a little weird, not my bag, but whatever - he is obviously extremely talented - and I still stick with the fact that he is talented. BUT THIS LAST WEEK WAS IT FOR ME. I do not care that he sang some weird version of the song he sang, I just care about how he was like touching all over his body and the microphone stand in a weird creepy satanic sort of way - and now I've had it with him. Like, I could barely watch it.

Other comments about folks just off the top of my head:
Anoop - I seriously like him...not as much as Danny though
Matt - I like him too - because I think he's a really fun guy and a really fun piano player
Scott - time to go home - I think it's cool they put a blind person in, but if this is a singing competition, time to go home, my friend
Kris - I like him pretty well - I think he looks a little like a duck when he sings - he has a really good voice
Alexis - really glad you went home and didn't have a chance to "dirty it up" again
Megan aka "Washing Machine" (because she looks like a washing machine while she's dancing) - I think she has a really cool voice...been wearing a little revealing outfits though...oh yeah and I learned that her tattoo is called a half sleeve

That's pretty much all I have to say about them now - I know there are more, but these are just the ones I've thought of. Do you agree? Disagree? Give me your thoughts....

Explanation of Blog Title

Ok so here is my first offering. This is Landon by the way. Sorry, but this is going to be long and not very funny.

You might have noticed on this blog some talk of “real” life. The title of the blog is Authentic Life. Many might be wondering what that is supposed to mean. I can remember hearing people talk about being real and authentic and feeling very suspicious of them. I am generally not a trusting person. So, when you tell me you are being real I take that to mean if I don’t act like you then I am being fake. I really don’t want to be fake. However, I find that it is a lot harder to be “real” than one might think. Bethany and I have come to discover that though we never intended to be fake we were, in fact, not truly being real with each other and God. Everyone I know has an innate tendency to protect themselves. We don’t like pain whether emotional or physical. We all want this life to go well. Therefore, we often find ourselves presenting a false representation of ourselves so that people will accept us. Please spare me the response, “I don’t care if you accept me or not.” This really isn’t the place to carry on a discussion about your denial issues.

Perhaps you are like me and have believed that if you just do this life right you will receive God’s blessings. Larry Crabb is an awesome writer and he says, With the devil, the flesh within us says, ‘Real life is the enjoyment of blessings in this world, which God (or fate) gives to those who get it right.’ With Christ, the Spirit within us says, “Real life consists in dependence on God, clinging to Him when everything goes wrong, tramping down despair with the weight of the Cross, and waiting on the Spirit to draw us near into the Father’s heart, doing all that we can do to create space for the Spirit to work.” Real life for us means not hiding our junk from God and each other. God is big enough to handle my stuff. In fact, He has promised to love me anyway. Bethany knows my junk and she also chooses to love me anyway. I also have a close circle of men around me who have the freedom to challenge me on anything they see that doesn’t resemble Christ. That is what we mean by real life. We do not have it all together. We struggle like everybody else. Now of course we probably won’t be posting our junk on this blog, but we want to be faithful to present an accurate picture of our lives. Presently, things are going quite well. Hence, posts about fun stuff like trips to IHOP.

Finally, a closing thought for you to consider. 2 Cor. 12 is extremely special to me. Go get your Bible and check it out. If you aren’t able to boast about your weakness then I wonder what it would take for that to happen. Maybe you just need to share your weakness with someone else? What would it take for you to get to a place where the power of Christ could rest on you? I believe the first step is getting real with God and others.

IHOP

Okay, so I just ate at IHOP FOR THE FIRST TIME - EVER! It was very good. As you know, I am extremely loyal to Cracker Barrel and was worried how I might be cheating on it by eating at IHOP. I did think the pancakes were excellent. I would weight the pancakes there equally with CB. Our waitress found out it was my first time there and thought we should take a picture. Malissa's camera can download to the computer, so she sent me our pictures from my FIRST EVER IHOP EXPERIENCE! I have had my quota of calories for the day, for sure! Here are the great pictures below:

Bonnie, Malissa, and me (I know this picture is blurry or could be too small for you to see)

BEFORE

AFTER

25 Things About ME:

25 Interesting (or not) Things about Me:

1. I have had one pet (and really it's my sister's dog) in my entire life, Katie.
2. I live 332 miles away from my parents.
3. The smell of bagels makes me want to throw up. I used to like them a lot, but after smelling them every Friday at work, I am really tired of them.
4. My family owns a John Deere/Kubota dealership called Wise Equipment.
5. My best friend in high school was nicknamed STD (but not for the reasons you are thinking) and E.A. I don't get to talk to her much anymore, but I never forget about her!
6. From Kindergarten - 6th grade, I took ballet, gymnastics, piano lessons, and was a Brownie and Junior in the Girl Scouts. I was not in all of these things at the same time.
7. I have worked at various schools/colleges playing the piano, Baskin Robbins, Wise Equipment, the International Baptist Network, Hibernia Bank, and Ronald Blue & Co. One time I got like 5 W-2's in one year.
8. My favorite cookies are the chocolate chip cookies my sister makes.
9. I hate noises people make like if they have a piece of coconut in their mouth and they are grinding it together between their teeth.
10. I love to watch American Idol and Lost the most! I also like to watch reruns of House.
11. I worry a lot about things - I can be OCD.
12. My favorite restaurant is Longhorn, and my favorite food there is chili cheese fries.
13. I got spankings when I was little with a wooden spoon. Sometimes I had to pick up pine cones in the yard (this was not punishment, but it felt like it).
14. I've lived in 3 states just since getting married 5 and a half years ago.
15. I get to play the piano for the orchestra at First Baptist Church Woodstock.
16. I've never gone bungee jumping and I never intend to. I would not jump off the top of a big pole while doing a high ropes course. I did, however, climb up really high at our church one day - and that was like a ropes course kind of feat for me.
17. My mom puts all kinds of fun tags on our Christmas presents. She writes from Mrs. Claus or from SC or from Santa's Elves....
18. I do not have pretty feet. I think I will end up having to go to a podiatrist when I get older.
19. I'm the oldest child.
20. I went to University of Florida and LOVE the Gators. I do not go for other teams, and I am not a fair weather fan. In all kinds of weather, we all stick together.
21. I've never gotten a speeding ticket, yet for accidents and other situations, I've been pulled over probably 6 times. I understand this is not fair, and my day is coming.
22. I love sweet tea.
23. I love Landon, my husband, and I'm really thankful to be married to him. He's a great husband, and we have a REAL marriage.
24. I like working in HR.
25. I really love the book The Shack and the book Falling for God.

FAKE VACATION...

I am starting to think most of my posts may portray me as a brat...I'm hoping not because I don't really think I'm a brat, I just sometimes have strong opinions about things. I wanted to tell you about a couple days off I am taking at the end of the week. Things have been kind of weird for me lately, mentally - I mean, I'm not in a breakdown mode or anything, but I've just been feeling weird. I've been worried about the economy and my job and I've also been hopeful that Landon will have a door open up regarding a church and we might be able to make a move (not a physical move, but a move to full time ministry in a church). The ministry thing is kind of like hurry up and wait, but yet both of our minds are really there - I feel a change is coming, and I feel ready for it....so...I think I've been kind of off at work lately. So...last Thursday, my boss, Patty, comes in and I start going on and on about how something I'm working on won't work right, blah, blah, blah. So, a little while later, I have a meeting with her. She says, "You have been a little intense lately, is everything alright?" Well, it's funny that she uses the word "intense" because that's exactly how I've heard my dad describe how I am sometimes. So, I bust out with, "I JUST NEED TO TAKE SOME TIME OFF!" Okay, sometimes I act crazy :) What in the world. So then I said, "I mean, it's not like I'm working til 8pm every night, but I'd like to take a couple of days off." I always want to save my time up in case I need it or for real vacations, but you know, sometimes I might just need a couple days to stay in my pajamas and watch Regis and Kelli (is it with an "i"??). So...she says, "Yes, you should definitely take off then. Whatever you want to take, feel free to take some time." She is a really good boss - definitely cares about her people. Thus, I am taking off this Thursday and Friday. I feel guilty about it since Landon's not off, and I don't really have anything to do, but I'm really looking forward to it. And, I'm sure I'll find some stuff to do :) So....Thursday and Friday are a vacation for me - not a real vacation, but a fake one! We have a real vacation coming up in May (going to St. Augustine!!) so hopefully this couple of days will help me make it...and help my mental stability :)

Tuning the Piano

Happy Monday! I want to share about having our piano tuned on Saturday. We have the cutest little man who comes to tune our piano. His name is Paise (I think, and you pronounce it like Pie-C), and he is so nice - and really funny. The last time he came to tune our piano was a year ago this month and the Saturday he came was the Saturday we had bad tornadoes come through the area. When he arrived to tune the piano, Landon and I had been down in the basement because the sirens were going off. He was supposed to come back 6 months later, but I kept procrastinating about calling him (because I didn't want to pay the money) and so finally Landon called and made an appointment for him to come this past Saturday. I think whether the piano had not been tuned in 1 month or in 1 year or in 10 years, he would always say (in his accent), "Oh no, this is terrible. This is so terrible. This is very bad." Then he says, "I do not like this piano. It is not good." Okay, well, excuse me, Pie-C, we bought the piano like 3 years ago, and tried to buy a nice one - I mean, I know we could not spend like $10,000, but we did what we could and bought a piano they said was made by Yamaha (not a Yamaha, but made by the same company). So, he goes "Yes, it is made by Yamaha, but they are shutting down factories overseas." Okay, well, great, so now we're paying a lot of money for you to come tune our piano and for you to tell us it's cheap. I am making Pie-C sound bad though - and he is really nice, just funny and doesn't beat around the bush. So, I play Super Mario 2 while he tunes the piano and Landon is downstairs cleaning out his truck. When he finishes, he tells me it is $115.00. Well, I knew it was expensive, but I had forgotten it was that expensive. I said, if we called you 6 months ago like we were supposed to would it have been this expensive? He says, "Yes." So, I am glad we waited 6 extra months - back home I thought it was only like $60 to have the piano tuned - but I could be wrong. Then he gives me his card - on one side of his card is his name and Southern Keyboards (because this is where we bought our piano and who he works for) and on the other side is his own personal card. The card is blue, and on both sides, it shows a fish playing the piano. Cracks me up. Anyway, I know you are like, why did I post this? I just wanted to try to capture how funny he is - even though really I don't think I have....so...we are supposed to call him in 6 months - yeah right, for $115, I'll be waiting another 12 months!

Receipts, Bones, and Parking Lot Etiquette

3 Issues to Discuss:

I was just at El Porton for lunch. I was with friends from work. When the check came, the waitress split it up, just like we needed it, but it was all on the same ticket - like split 4 ways, just on the same ticket. Well, one of my co-workers pulled out a pen, and wrote down our the last 4 digits of each of our card numbers and our last names by each of our charges - so, by my charge for my $5.75 chicken taco salad he wrote "Frymire ####" (whatever the #'s are for my card). I thought this was an ingenius idea - I had never seen anyone actually write on the bill before. My other co-workers seemed to know about this idea, but I thought it was worth posting - very good idea when you are with a group!

Next item of business has to do with dog bones. So, back before my office moved to this new location, we changed the dress code to be fancier. So, no problem (well, sometimes annoying, but no real problem) we are all dressing nicely. Some of the reason they decided to change the dress code was because they said at our new building people would be dressed really nice (which was not the case at our old building since it was becoming a medical building and people were in the elevator with scrubs and hazardous waste bags). Well, my friend Malissa (the Flat Belly Diet friend) and I were on the way back from lunch a couple days ago. We drive into the parking lot and I see a man. I wish I had a picture of him, but let me try to describe him. He was a very large man (kind of like that man in the yogurt shop when I was a kid, Mom) like really large, like could have been on the biggest loser (and I am not making fun - I am just trying to help you get a picture - I promise - I am having weight situations, myself, so I would not be hypocritical). He had on flip flops (rubber kind) and jean shorts. The best part was his shirt. He had on a too tight shirt, untucked - it was blue and had DOG BONES all over it. Are you joking me - I'm wearing too tight panty hose to work so that I can be in an office building with a man who has dog bones on his shirt?? Killing me, people!

Last item of business for now. Twice in the past couple of weeks I have had weird encounters with people in parking lots, and they are really making me mad!! The first one happened in Publix parking lot where this man had been on my tail and I felt bad about it because I could see he was in a hurry. When he parked (oh yeah, and he was driving a huge truck - hence the monster truck picture), I yelled out my window, "I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean to hold you up!" Well, he yelled something back at me I couldn't understand, but I just yelled again, "I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean to hold you up!" And then he smiled and waved and said it was okay. Landon said it was not a good idea I had done this and told me not to do it again. I was sorry though, seriously. Then today, we get back from lunch and are walking through the parking lot across a space, and lo and behold, someone's trying to pull in there and we are walking across - so I smile and wave at the people in the car, again, sorry we are holding them up while taking 10 SECONDS to walk across the space - she does not even smile at me! She just looks really annoyed - so then I yell out, "SORRY WE WERE TAKING UP THE SPACE FOR 10 SECONDS - I'M REALLY SORRY!" So then, my friend says, "Do you realize their windows were rolled down?" Yes, I realized. You know, if people are going to be rude, I understand, some people are just rude. BUT, IF I SMILE AND WAVE AND THEN YOU ARE STILL RUDE, THAT REALLY MAKES ME MAD - why? I don't know - maybe I'm embarrassed - that's probably it. Anyway, those are three things I just needed to get off my chest.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Well...I've wanted to post something for several days, but nothing exciting has happened! Still, nothing exciting has happened, but I thought it was a good time for an update, regardless of excitement. The weekend has almost arrived!! Landon is off Saturday and Sunday, so we will have two whole days of hanging out together! Yea! And, we have pretty much NOTHING on the agenda for the weekend, except our usual stuff. First of all, I'm thinking we will sleep late tomorrow morning (yes, yes, yes). When I say "we" that mainly means "I" - Landon is not much of a late sleeper. I was thinking I could go running with Landon Saturday morning, but i think it is supposed to be rainy and cold (and that may be a good thing since it's taken me all week not to walk funny from being so sore from running on Monday). Then, Saturday night we are keeping baby Levi for some friends of ours so they can go out together. We need to watch our Intimate Encounters DVD so we'll be ready for Sunday School Sunday morning....that's about it! I'm excited for a boring weekend.

So...would you like an update on the Flat Belly Diet? Well...the news is not good. Malissa got sick and had to go off the diet - I do not know if the sickness was caused by the diet or what, but she got really sick and had to stop the weird diet. This is unfortunate, though, because I was really excited to see what was going to happen!

BTW, Landon says he's going to post something on here soon. Oh yeah, and I forgot to even mention our blog's new look! Do you like it??! I really like the color green, so I'm very excited about it. I keep wanting to go to it myself and look at it, like someone else is going to have updated it and have new stuff posted.

Alright, HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!

Diets...

Okay, let's discuss diets. My friend and co-worker, Malissa, is on this Flat Belly Diet. I had never heard of this diet before until she began talking about it. So...this is her first week. Yesterday for lunch she had to eat an entire pint of grape tomatoes, some plain deli turkey, and some special water called "sassy" water (I am not joking) which has cucumber, ginger, and mint leaves in it. GROSS! So...as of this morning (after 1 full day on the diet) she has lost 1.5 lbs!! Yeah, Malissa! Lots of sacrifice and weird eating though - apparently you do NO crunches on this diet, yet you get a flat belly. And, the first four days are the worst - hence why she was eating a pint of grape tomatoes...

I have been pretty thin my entire life - my family has pretty good genes, I think, but it seems like lately I have been having a harder time keeping my weight at a controllable level. It seems like used to, I would eat like crazy one day (chili cheese fries from Longhorn are my favorite....or homestyle chicken from Cracker Barrel) and then could eat hardly anything the next day and balance out. But now, it seems like that plan is no longer working as efficiently. For a couple of months now, I have weighed a few pounds more. I do not know what this is about, but I do not appreciate it. So...today I've eaten strawberries, yogurt, and a 100 calorie pack of some ritz cracker business. It was good, but I am ready for more food! Landon and I are going to Publix in a little bit to buy some groceries and get something for dinner. Hopefully, I will not eat like a maniac and mess the good eating day up. We shall see. I have really digressed because I was trying to focus on thoughts about the Flat Belly Diet - has anyone heard of this? Has anyone had good results?? I will keep you posted on my friend Malissa's progress. GO MALISSA! YOU CAN DO IT!!!

Bucky vs. The Great Outdoors

VS.

Well...at the risk of ending my blogging career before it's even begun, I have decided to air some dirty laundry (so to speak of course - unless there is actually some dirty laundry in one of these pictures by accident). Today has been a BEAUTIFUL day here, one of the first work days I've been able to come home and go running OUTSIDE! Now, let's not pretend that I am some workout-aholic. The main day I work out during the week, that is a constant, is Monday evenings. I know, I know, you are asking when I am going to get to my pictures above....well, Landon and I decided (after much arguing and no resolution - even to this day) that it would be alright for him to hang his deer (Bucky - oh, and that is not Landon's name for him - my sister named him) downstairs in our basement room. Since our basement room is not a real part of our house (this is what I tell myself) I am okay with this (meaning: we did not divorce over it). Landon has moved the elliptical machine in the last couple of months to face Bucky, so now, when I run on the elliptical machine, Bucky is staring at me the entire time I work out. I usually notice Bucky's cool stare twice during my workout. Once at the beginning and once toward the end when I think I may die from exhaustion. Bucky never speaks, just stares. I imagine his mouth moving, but then I lose interest and just continue with my workout. Already I do not like this long time friend of Landon's, and now he is mocking me while I am trying to get my body (which is falling down) in better shape. So....this brings me to the great outdoors photo. It was gorgeous outside today, so I ran outside - haha, Bucky - you missed me didn't you??! Landon has been running to downtown Woodstock and back home, so I decided to try it out. Um, it didn't go too well. I don't know why there are not benches by the road on the way to downtown Woodstock - I mean, if you are going to put sidewalks then couldn't you make a little effort and put a bench...and maybe a water fountain? Anyway, I made it all the way to the old school (which is now like a vo-tech situation) and had to turn around. I walked back, and it was a really long way - I mean really long. And there is a lot of traffic going on at this time. I did make it back though, and I really felt a sense of accomplishment for trying to run like Landon does. I tried to do Wii Fit lunges when I arrived home, but on the first lunge could not make it back up and decided my limits had been tested today; time to rest. Since then, I've showered and watched two House Hunters I DVR'd in the last few days. So...I must get back to resting now, but I wanted to share Bucky with you. Ha, Bucky, you did not get to mock me today!

The Weekend

Well, the weekend is over, and it was great!! We had such a great time with Krista and Matt! We...played Phase 10 on Friday night, made them ride in the very back of our Murano (which does not have a rear seat) for a short and very funny trip on Saturday morning, did something fun and dangerous at the church that mostly no one else has gotten to do before, went to eat at Okay Cafe, visited Zoo Atlanta and the Cyclorama (on a beautiful and CROWDED day!), grilled out Saturday night, then finished off the weekend with church and Cracker Barrel - how could you ever go wrong by ending the family weekend at Cracker Barrel? I had homestyle chicken (my favorite) which is the special for Sundays. Krista and Matt, thanks for visiting us - we love you!!

So...I am not sure how to put a picture and words at the same time....I'll have to work on this to get the hang of it! My sister, Krista, and her fiance, Matt, are coming to spend the weekend with us here in Atlanta. We are planning to go to the zoo, maybe the Cyclorama, the Okay Cafe (which I truly believe is better food than Mary Mac's), and that's all I can think of right now. I don't think I have a picture of Matt and Krista and Landon and me together, so here's just a picture of Krista and me (with the snow village in the background - ha) After this weekend, I will be able to post pictures of the 4 of us together...and our favorite animals at the zoo!

Wow! This is so exciting - my first blog!! Landon and I actually have a pretty boring life, but blogging is something I've thought I would enjoy trying. I always have a lot to say about most things! So...I'm going to give it a try!